Bottle-labeling machine.



No. 675,0l3. Patented May 2a, 1901.

W. E. PETTEE.

BOTTLE LABELING MACHINE.

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No. 675,0!3. Patented May 28, IBM.

W. E. PETTEE.

BOTTLE LABELING MACHINE.

- (Application filed June 10, 1899.) I (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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No. 675,0!3. Patented May 28, l90l. w. E. PETTEE.

BOTTLE LABELING MACHINE.

(Application filed June 10, 1899.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-$hpet 3.

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UNTTnn STATES PATENT OFF CE,

lVILLIAM E. PETTEE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THECHASE-SHAVVMUT COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

BOTTLE-LABELING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 675,013, dated May 28,1901. Application filed June 10, 1899. iaerial No. 720,027. (No model.)

To all who/rt lit nut/y concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM E. PETTEE, of Boston, county of Suffolk, andState of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Bottle-LabelingMachines, of which the following description, in connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters and figures onthe drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to bottle-labeling machines, and has for itsobject to improve the construction of the machine, to the end thatneck-labe1s may be applied to the necks of bottles substantially at thesame time that the body-labels are applied, although the neck-labelingdevices embodying this invention may be used independently, if desired,in instances where it is desired to apply only neck-labels to thebottles; and the invention furthermore has for its object to constructneck-labeling devices whereby a neck-label may be wrapped all around theneck of the bottle.

In accordance with this invention a pile of neck-labels is contained ina label-holder, a pasting device is provided, and a neck-label conveyeris employed adapted to have ap plied to it a coating of paste and tothen operate to pick off the uppermost neck-label of the pile and conveyit to a position to'be applied to the neck of the bottle. The necklabelconveyer comprises, essentially, a pair of shoes which are adapted to bepasted, and said pasted shoes pick off the uppermost label of the pile,and by doing so apply paste to the label, and said shoes are preferablyseparated, so that the paste will be applied only to the opposite edgesof the labels, the middle portion of the label being unpasted. Theneck-label conveyer is operated to convey the neck-label over or upon aplate, preferably made yielding, which serves as a rest for the neck ofthe bottle, and when said neck-label is thus brought into position oversaid yielding plate it will be detached from its conveyer by the neck ofthe bottle being thrust down upon it, and said neck-label will then befirmly hold in engagement with the neck of the bottle and properlypositioned relatively thereto.

A body-engaging clamp is employed as a means of engaging and holding thebottle by engaging its body, and said clamp is made movable for a shortdistance after its members have been brought together to clamp thebottle, so that said clamp and bottle held by it will both move for ashort distance and remove the label from the shoes, after which saidbottle will be held at rest while the label is being applied.

When the bottle is first introduced, the neck-label will be held byitsconveyer in position above the yielding plate and beneath the neck ofthe bottlei. 6., between the yielding plate and neck of the bottle-andthen as the bottle is engaged by the bodyengaging clamp and is movedbodily downwardly by said clamp for a short distance the neck of thebottle will be thrust upon said neck-label, detaching it-from itsconveyer and pressing it firmly upon said yielding plate in order thatit may be held in engagement with the neck of the bottle and propeilypositioned relatively thereto.

WVipei-s are employed which act to lay the neck-label onto the neck ofthe bottle while said label is positively held in engagement with it,and said Wipers and the body-engaging clamp and yielding plate aremovable one with relation to the other in order that said neck-label maybe applied.

As herein shown, the bodyengaging clamp holds the bottle stationary, orsubstantially so, and the wipers are provided with means for movingthem.

As before stated, it is designed to use the neck-labeling devices inconnection with body-labeling devices, and for the purpose ofillustrating this part of my invention I have herein shown saidneck-labeling devices as working in conjunction with the bodylabelingdevices shown and described in United States Patent No. 597,858, grantedto me January 25, 1898, yet they may be used in conjunction with anyother form or kind of body-labeling device. When used in conjunctionwith the body-labeling devicessuch, for instance, as shown in saidpatentthe body-label conveyer will convey a body label over or uponthelower plate or member of the body-engaging clamp, and when the bottleis engaged and held by said clamp the simultaneously, or substantiallyso, with the wipers which operate to apply the neck-label, and in suchcase all of said wipers may and preferably will be operated by the samemechanism.

Figure 1 shows a rear side elevation of a bottle-labeling machineembodying this invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of asufficient portion of the machine shown in Fig. 1 to illustrate mypresent invention. Fig. 3 is a detail showing the necklabel holder andconveyer. Fig. 4is a detail showing the pasting device for theneck-label conveyer by means of which a coating of paste is applied tosaid conveyer, thus adapting it to pick oif the uppermost label of thepile and by doing so apply to the label thus picked oil a coating ofpaste. Fig. 5 is a detail of the means employed for raising and loweringthe paste-box shown in Fig. 4:. Fig. 6 is detail of the means forlowering the pasti-ng device when the neck-label conveyer moves toconvey a neck-label into position to be applied to the neck of thebottle. Fig. 7 is a detail showing the rising-and-falling frame bearingthe body-label wipers and other parts. Fig. 8 is an enlarged plan viewof the neck-labeling devices shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 9 is a detail showingthe wipers forapplying the neck-label. Fig. 10 is a detail showing theactuating device for one of the necklabel wipers, two such devices beingprovided, one for each wiper; and Fig. 1-1 is a crosssectional detail ofthe means for moving one of the neck-label-wiper arms.

The neck-labeling devices are herein shown as applied to thebottle-labeling machine shown and described in United States Patent No.597,858, above referred to, to which reference may be had, and, asrepresented in said patent, A represents the side frames of the machineand A horizontal guides along which the body-label conveyer h slides.

e is the paste-box, containing the pastingroll a which is secured to ashaft 6 said pasting-roll being adapted to apply a coating of paste tothe shoes of said body-label conveyer h.

f is a cam which is secured to the shaft f, located beneath the frame e,bearing the paste-box e, and said camf acts upon a projection on theunder side of said frame 6 to raise and lower the paste-box as the camrevolves. The paste-box is raised so that its pasting rolis 6 willengage the shoes of the body-label con veyer when said con veyer travelsin one direction and is lowered so that said pasting-rolls may beremoved therefrom when the body-label conveyer travels in the oppositedirection,

n is a yielding plate over or upon which the body-label is conveyed bythe body-label conveyer and which receives upon it the bottle, and u isanother plate located above said plate n, which is carried by arising-and-falling cross-head and is adapted to engage thebody of thebottle and press said bottle down onto the label, which is held inposition over the plate '22, to thereby detach said body-label from itsconveyer and thereafter hold the bottle firmly with the body-label inengagement with it and properly positioned relatively to it. The platesn and u therefore constitute a bodyengaging clamp which engages andholds the bottle with the body-label in position thereon preparatory tohaving the pasted edges of the label wiped down onto the bottle.

0 represents a rising-and-falling frame carrying a pair of wipers whichare adapted to apply the body-label to the bottle when it is thus heldin position thereon, and said wipercarrying frame is movable relativelyto the .other parts by a cam t, secured to .the shaft 0, which engagesand lifts an arm 25, loosely mounted on the shaftfand bearing upon oragainst a friction-roll p, mounted on the rod p, which is secured tosaid frame 0. The wiper-carrying frame 0 rises and falls in guide waysprovided for it and supports two separate wipers, each consisting of aplate 0 preferably of rubber, attached to a short arm 0 or other supportpivoted at o to the upper ends of a pair of arms 0 which are pivotallyconnected at their lower ends to a rod or bar forming a cooperative partof this frame 0, and said rod or bar is adjustably mounted in a slot 0to be adjusted toward and from the bottle, and a rigid arm 0 is securedto said rod or bar, into which is screwed one or more screws 0 whichpass freely through a hole in one or both arms 0 and limit the movementof said arm 0 in one direction.

The parts thus referred to, with the exception of the wiper,are allsubstantially the same as in the patent referred to, so that a detaildescription of them is unnecessary; but it is not intended to limit theemployment of the neck-labeling devices to be described to work inconjunction with the body-labeling devices such as are herein shown.

Attached to and projecting forward from the side frames A A are a pairof rods or bars a a, arranged in parallelism, and upon said rods or barsa a a neck-label conveyer is mounted to slide freely back and forth. Theneck-label conveyer, as herein shown, consists of crossbar a, having endpieces a, formed or provided with holes through them adapting them toslide freely along on said rods (1 a, and a pair of shoes a a aresecured to said end pieces 0, which project downward and also inward,and said shoes a a are separated for the purposes to be explained.Spiral springs a are mounted upon the guiderods a. a, at each endthereof, which serve as cushions which resist the movements pf theneck-label conveyer at the opposite ends of its stroke. The neck-labelconveyer has projecting laterally from one side of one of its end piecesa a pin (i which is engaged by the slotted end of an arm a, pivoted at ato a bracket a secured to and projecting from the framework, and as saidarm a is moved to and fro on its pivot the neck-label c0nveyer will bereciprocated or caused to travel back and forth on the guide-rods a a. Alink a is loosely connected at one end to the pivoted arm Ct6 at a pointjust above its pivot a and is loosely connected at its opposite end to aplate d, which is moved back and forth by a cam on the maindriving-shaft c of the machine. The plate d is also connected bya link(1 with the body-label conveyer h and ,as said plate is moved back andforth said body-label con veyer will also be reciprocated. Therefore itwill be seen that the body-label conveyer and neck-label conveyer willbe moved substantially simultaneously, but in opposite ways.

The pasting device for the neck-label conveyer consists of a paste-boxh, set into a frame I), which is held in fixed position upon a pair ofrods or bars 19 which project forward from the framework, and saidpastebox contains a pair of pasting-rolls b secured to a shaft Z)",which has its hearings in the end walls of the paste-box, and saidpasting-rolls b bear upon a roller b contained in the paste box. Thepasting-rolls b are disposed on the shaft 6 at a suitable distanceapart, so as to engage the shoes a of the necklabel conveyer when saidconveyor travels in one direction and its shoes pass over said rolls.The paste-box b is caused to rise and fall, so that its pasting-rolls bwill engage the shoes of the neck -label conveyer when said conveyertravels in one direction, but will be removed from such position whensaid conveyer travelsin the opposite direction. As ameans ofaccomplishing this result I have herein provided a rock-shaft beneaththe paste-box, whichhas its hearings in the frame b,and said shaft hasprojecting laterally from it two pins I)", which when said shaft is inone position will occupy a vertical position and at such time willengage the bottom of the paste-box and lift said pasteboX into its mostelevated position, and when said shaft is in its other position theywill occupy a horizontal position, and thereby permit said paste-box tofall by gravity. The shaft 1) is rocked by the reciprocating neck-labelconveyer, so that the position of the pastebox will be controlled bysaid conveyer. As herein shown, the ends of the rock-shaft projectbeyond both sides of the frame I), and upon said projecting ends of theshaft pins 2 3 are provided, which project laterally from the shaft atdilferent angles, and a dog I) is loosely mounted upon one of saidprojecting ends, having a recess to receive the pin 2, and a similar dogb isloosely mounted upon the other projecting end, having a recess toreceive the pin 3, and said dogs are adapted to engage saidlaterally-projecting pins 2 3 as they are moved to thereby rock theshaft in one or the other direction. The dogs b and project upward for ashort distance, so as to lie in the path of movement of projections b Z7which extend downward from the end pieces a or other parts of theneck-label conveyor, and as the neck-label conveyor travels in onedirection one of said projections will engage and move one of the dogsand turn the shaft one way, and as said conveyer travels in the oppositedirection the other projection will engage and move the other dog andturn the shaft in the opposite direction. The projection b is made as astraight bar or plate, (see Figs. 1, 2, and 8,) and the projection h ismade as a straight bar or plate having at its lower end an offsetportion projecting at right angles, thus differing from the projectionb".

As the neck-label conveyer travels from the label-holder to thelabel-applying devices the projection 17 will engage the dog b turningit so as to engage the pin 3 and rock the shaft b causing the pins 1) toassume a horizontal position, and thereby permitting the paste-box tofall by gravity, so that the shoes a a will pass over the pasting-rolls11 1)" without engaging them.

As the neck-label conveyor returns for the next label the projection b"will engage the dog 19 turning it so as to engage the pin 2 and rock theshaft causing the pinsv b to resunle a vertical position, and therebyraise the paste-box, so that the shoes (t a will pass over thepastingrolls b in engagement with them, thereby receiving a coating ofpaste.

The pile of neck-labels is contained in a label-holder, which maybe ofany usual or suitable construction so far as this invention isconcerned, and said label-holder is adapted to rise and fall in orderthat the pile of labels may be successively brought into contact withthe shoes of the label-carrier. As herein shown, the label-holderconsists of a plate 0 secured upon a plate 0 which is formed or providedat the ends with projections, which enterand slide freely in vertical guideways formed in a frame a, which is likewise rigidly secured to therods or bars 11 being located in front of the frame Z). The plate 0 haserected upon its upper side a n u inber of pins 0 preferably formed withserrated sides, and said pins are properly disposed to receive betweenthem a pile of labels, which is placed upon the plate 0. The plate 0 issupported upon a pair of pins 0 which project downward for a suitabledistance, and said pins pass freely through holes formed or provided ina cross-piece c, which is adapted to move up and down in said verticalguideways in the frame, and spiral springs c are placed upon said pins 0which bear against the under side of the plate 0 and also against saidcrosspiece 0 The cross-piece c rests upon or it may be secured to a bar0 which is movable in a vertical direction, and as said bar rises IISthe cross-piece will be moved with it, and consequently the label-holderwill be correspondingly moved, so as to press the pile of labels upagainst the shoes a a of the necklabel conveyer; but as soon as saidpile of labels is thus brought to bear against the shoes of thelabel-conveyer further upward movement of the bar 0 will cause the plate0 to slide along on the pins 0 the springs 0 yielding to permit suchsliding movement of the plate 0 The shoes of the label-conveyer havingbeen coated with paste and the pile of labels pressed up against them,the uppermost label of the pile will be picked off by said shoesand thepaste will be applied to the label.

A plate a which serves as a rest for the neck of the bottle and over orupon which the neck-label is conveyed by the label-conveyer, issupported on a pair of pins 77, which pass down through holes in thefront plate B of the machine, and said plate n is held in its normalelevated position by means of spiral springs 12, which are mounted onsaid pins n and bear against the plate B and against the under side ofthe plate a. The plate n is therefore adapted to yield like the platen.The neck-label conveyer conveys its neck-label to a position over saidyielding plate a, and said neck-label is then detached. The bottle isintroduced between the members a and u of the body-engaging clamp,andits neck will at such time occupy a position just above or will bearupon the neck'label which is held by the necklabel conveyer over saidplate n The member 11 of said body-engaging clamp then descends andpresses the bottle down onto the plate 02, and consequently its neckwill be pressed onto the neck-label which is located beneath -it andonto the plate n and as the bottle is thus bodily moved and the platesat and n yield the neck-label will be detached from its conveyer. Theneck-label conveyer then returns for another neck-label. The neck-labelwill then be firmly held in position on the neck of the bottle andproperly positioned relatively thereto,and the bottle will be firmlyheld by the body-engaging clamp 11 u, and at such time the neck-labelwipers which are provided for the purpose are operated to lay theunattached edges of the neck-label onto the neck of the bottle. Thewipers herein shown for accomplishing this result are adapted to wrapthe neck-label entirely around the neck of the bottle; yet it is ob--vious that any other form or kind of wipers may be employed in lieu ofthe wipers herein shown.

Two neck-label wipers are herein shown, (see Fig. 9,) one for each sideor end of the necklabel, and said wipers consist each of an arm m,pivoted at m to a cross-piece m which is bolted or otherwise secured tothe bar 0 The arms m are each jointed at m at points intermediate theirlength, so that the upper ends of the arms may move inward or towardeach other when acting to lay the label on the neck of the bottle. Oneof said neck-label-wiping arms on is made longer than the other, andboth bear at their upper ends rollers m A cross-piece m is secured tothe top of the bar 0 the ends m of which are turned upward and project ashort distance, and springs m connect the wiping-arms m with said ends mthe tendency of said springs being to normally separate the arms 7%. Theupper ends of the wiping-arms m are slightly offset and terminate nearthe plate a being located one at each side of said plate to engage thelabel at each side of said plate when said label is held in correctposition on the neck of the bottle by said plate. As the bar 0 rises thepair of wiping-arms borne by it will rise to apply the label, and whenthus moved by the bar 0 the longer arm will first engage the label onone side of the plate 02 followed by the shorter arm, which engages thelabel on the opposite side of said plate p and as said arms are movedsimultaneously the longer arm will first complete its work and pass byor beyond the neck of the bottle, so that the shorter arm may passbeneath it in completing its work. The label may thus be wiped entirelyaround the neck of the bottle. To thus positively move the wiper-arms ontheir pivots in order that they may do the work designed for them, eachwiper-arm has a laterally-projecting pin m with or without a rollthereon, which engages the inside of a camlike rib m, secured to orformed on one side of a plate m pivoted at m to a plate m which issecured to the frame I). The plate m is normally held in fixed positionby a spring m one end of which is attached to the lower end of the plateand the other end to a fixed point, said spring drawing said plate mfirmly against a plate m which is secured to the plate on. The plate onis undercut along one side or edge (see Fig. 11) to receive the plate mand form a shoulder against which said plate m abuts to thereby serve asa stop, against which the plate m will be drawn by a spring m and ofcourse said plate m may be formed as a part of said plate M15. The platem is held by a spring m in a yielding manner, so that it may be moved inone direction or away from the plate m As the wiping-arms m rise and thelaterally projecting pins m pass along the inside of the ribs m theplate m will be held in fixed position, and consequently the saidwiping-arms will be moved inward or toward each other when the pins mpass along the curved portions of the ribs m Said arms will also bendmore or less at the joints m if necessary. As the pins m or either oneof them, pass by or beyond the upper ends of the ribs m the wiper-armbearing said pin will be immediately restored to its normal. position,so that as said wipingarms descend the pins m will pass along theopposite or outer sides of the ribs m and during the descending movementof said wiping-arms the plates m will be moved inward on their pivots Mas represented by dotted lines, Fig. 10. It will be seen that during thedescending movement of the wiper-arms they will be prevented fromengaging the neck of the bottle. The rib m with which the shorter armcooperates will be made longer than the rib m with which the longer armcooperates, as represented in Fig. 4, so that said longer arm, whichfirst engages the label, may complete its work before the shorter armand permit said shorter arm to pass beneath the longer arm as itfinishes its stroke. It is obvious, however, that said wiper-arms may bepositively operated in any other manner.

I claim 1. In a bottle-labeling machine, the combination of a platedisposed beneath the neck of the bottle, a neck-label conveyer forconveying a neck-label to a position over said plate, means for engagingthe body of the bottle and for pressing the neck of the bottle down ontothe neck-label on said plate, to thereby hold the neck-label in positionon the neck of the bottle, and wipers for applying said necklabel,substantially as described.

2. In a bottle-labeling machine, the combi nation of a plate n disposedbeneath the neck of the bottle, a neck-label conveyer for conveying aneck-label to a position over said plate, a plate 11 disposed beneaththe body of the bottle, a movable plate to disposed above the body ofthe bottle, means for moving said plate it toward said plate so to clampthe body of the bottle and also to press the neck of the bottle intoengagement with the neck-label on the plate 01 and wipers for applyingsaid neck-label, substantially as described.

3. In a bottle-labeling machine, the combination of a yielding plate n,disposed beneath the neck of the bottle, a neck-label conveyer forconveying the neck-label to a position over said plate, means forengaging the body of the bottle and for also pressing the neck of thebottle down onto the neck-label on said yielding plate to thereby detachthe neck-label from its conveyer and also hold it in posit-ion on theneck of the bottle, and wipers for applying said neck-label,substantially as described.

4:. In a bottle-labeling machine, the combination of a yielding plate ndisposed beneath the neck of the bottle, aneck-label conveyer forconveying a neck-label to a position over said plate, a yielding plate92 disposed beneath the body of the bottle, a movable plate it disposedabove the body of the bottle, means for moving said plate it toward theplate 02 to clamp the body of the bottle and also to press the neck ofthe bottle down onto the necklabel on said yielding plate to therebydetach the neck-label from its conveyer and also hold it in position onthe neck of the bottle, and wipers for applying said neck-label,substantially as described.

5. In a bottle-labeling machine, the combination of a plate it disposedbeneath the neck of the bottle, a neck-label conveyer for conveying aneck-label to a position over said plate, a body-engaging clampcomprising two plates disposed one above the other, a bodylabel conveyerfor conveying a body-label to a position over the lowermost plate ofsaid body-engaging clamp, means for moving the uppermost plate of saidbody-engaging clamp toward the lowermost plate to press the bottle intoengagement with the body-label on said lowermost plate, and also pressthe neck of the bottle down onto the neck-label on said plate n tothereby hold both labels in position on the bottle, and two sets ofwipers for applying said labels, substantially as described.

6. In a bottle-labeling machine, the combination of a yielding plate 01disposed beneath the neck of the bottle, a neck-label conveyer forconveying a neck-label to a position over said plate 72 a yielding plate17. disposed beneath the body of the bottle, a movable plate a disposedabove the body of the bottle, a

body-label conveyer for conveying a bodylabel to a position over saidplate a, means for moving said plate it toward said plate n, to pressthe bottle into engagement with the body-label on said plate '11., anddetach said body-label from its conveyer and hold it in position on thebottle, and also to press the neck of the bottle into engagement withthe neck-label on said plate n detach it from its conveyer and hold itin position on the bottle, and two sets of Wipers for applying saidlabels, substantially as described.

7. In a bottle-labeling machine, the combination with label-applyingdevices and a reciprocating label-conveyer and pasting devices forapplying a coating of paste to said label-conveyer, of means operated bysaid label-conveyer for moving the pasting device into and out of thepath of movement of said label-conveyer, substantially as described.

8. In a bottle-labeling machine, the combination with labeling devices,of a reciprocating label-conveyer, a pasting device for applying acoating of paste to said label-conveyer, a rock-shaft having a pinprojecting from it for moving said pasting device into and out of thepath of movement of the labelconveyer and means for rocking said shaftoperated by said label-conveyer as it is reciprocated, substantially asdescribed.

9. In a bottle-labeling machine, a pair of wiper-arms pivoted to amovable frame and bearing wiping-rolls, one of said wiper-arms beingmade longer than the other, whereby they actsuccessively in affixing thelabel, substantially as described.

10. In a bottle-labeling machine, a pair of wiper-arms bearingwiping-rolls, means for raising them to wipe the label onto the bottleand means for holding them away from the botttle as they descend,substantially as described.

11. In a bottle-labeling machine, a pair of wiper-arms bearingwiping-rolls, one of said wiper-arms being made longer than the other toact in advance of the other, a support bear- V ing said Wiper-arms,means for moving said support to simultaneously move the wipers andmeans for directing the movements of the wipers to wipe the label ontothe bottle, substantially as described.

12. In a bottle-labeling machine, a pair of wiper-arms bearingwiping-rolls, one of said wiper-arms being made longer than the other sothat they act successively in affixing the label, a support bearingthem, means for moving said support to simultaneously move the wipersand means for directing the movements of the wipers to wipe the labelonto the bottle, and also direct the return movement of said wiperswhereby they are returned free from engagement with the bottle,substantially as described.

13. In a bottle-labeling machine, two wiperarms bearing wiping-rollswhich act succes- .sively in affixing the label, and means for operatingsaid arms, substantially as described.

14. In a bottle-labeling machine, two wiperarms bearing wiping-rolls,means for moving them to affix the label around the bottle, eachwiping-roll successively crossing the path of movement of the other whenaifixing the ends of the label, substantially as described.

15. In a bottle-labeling machine, two successively-acting label-wipers,separable to admit a bottle between them, and means for operating saidWipers to affix the label, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM E. PETTEE.

Witnesses:

B. J. NOYES, J. L. HUTCHINSON.

